SPD says stepped-up Capitol Hill patrols are working

Stepped-up patrols on Capitol Hill that were ordered to address a recent spike in crime are already yielding dividends, the Seattle Police Department says.

On Saturday night, cops arrested a juvenile for reportedly threatening to kill a security guard and, in a separate incident, nabbed a man for indecent liberties after seeing him grab a woman from behind and begin to rub himself against her, SPD wrote on its news blog.

Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole, who met with Capitol Hill business owners, residents and activists Friday, had promised to bolster SPD’s presence in the neighborhood over the weekend.

East Precinct Captain Pierre Davis assigned officers to walk patrols and put additional officers on bikes on Capitol Hill, according to the department’s blog post.

The officers were asked to focus on the nightlife-centric intersection of Broadway and East Pike Street and in the area surrounding Cal Anderson Park.

SPD’s Criminal Investigations and Special Operations bureaus are lending gang-unit and traffic-unit officers to work as reinforcements on Capitol Hill, the post said.

There were also two arrests in the neighborhood Friday night.

SPD officials plan to check back with community members after two weeks to discuss the increased policing.

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The Today File is a general news blog featuring real-time coverage of Seattle and the Northwest. It is reported by the news staff of The Seattle Times and includes stories from The Associated Press and McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.